Life2.0 - An "Of Unity" Narrative (Completed)

[CBR JGWRR]

"The Sinews Of War, Part 3"
27th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"I do like the dress Rivkah."

I laugh, I hadn't changed out of it. "So do I actually, I'm getting used to it. Look, I've been consulting with my engineers. I need to know some specifics on power generation and usage for your ships."

"I'm supposed to say that's classified."

"I'll get you a nude of my Mum."

At first her eyes light up. But... "As much as I want it, I know your mother wouldn't approve. Besides, your uncle warned me you and his wife were thinking of using an animatronic of her to seduce me." She's still smiling.

"And?"

"I'm told it convinced your father?"

"Yes."

Her hand lingers over her middle, eyes closed. "Oh I could have a lot of fun with that..." She sighs. "No, I mustn't. Breathe. In." Her nose sucks in, she exhales out her mouth. "Ok, let's focus. What exactly do you want to know?"

"We've got ideas for taking down his strikecraft and his carriers. But we need to know shield energies to work out how big we have to scale the weapons to be. We also need to know the power ratings for your ship-board zero point reactors."

"The numbers are big enough that we use a separate scale for them... I'm just thinking through the conversion factors." She walks around the room, stroking her chin. Looks back at me. "Help a sister out. What do you guys use again?"

"The Human SI units and scales."

"Ok." She fiddles with her wrist tablet. "So, the zero-point reactors don't scale down very well. They can extract a huge amount of energy, but the control systems are extremely sophisticated, so they aren't really a benefit in terms of power produced."

"So why use them then?"

"No fuel required. Only maintenance to ensure everything is at the correct tolerances. They are much safer than other reactors."

"How much energy?"

She does a few more taps. "Our service reactors for ships are around three gigawatts up to fourty gigawatts or so. I think."

"We could do that with nuclear fission."

She looks at me. "And irradiate yourselves? Are you that desperate?" She suddenly looks horrified. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"You're forgiven. Mum's on record as saying she'd rather have no hair and win."

Her eyes dart around the room, her body recoiling slightly. "Did I treat her that badly?"

I decide to twist the dagger a little. "I haven't asked about you specifically. I do know you were doing the sixty nine thing with her when you dumped Valerius, so I think you aren't as bad as some."

There's a long pause. She looks at her feet. "Did she tell you, or him?"

"Mum. After it was discussed that Valerius thought of you as his first Mrs Albanius. I asked what happened."

Appia's face is a very weird shade of purple. She gulps. "I... Never thought I'd end up discussing that recording with her daughter." She looks at me, and smiles. "Still, she was so good at it that I knew I'd never want a man again."

I smile back. "Yet Mum and Dad have gone on a romantic break, and well, having grown up with my parents, I know very well the sound of a Human woman enjoying her husband's tongue..."

She laughs. "Well played, I walked right into that."

I laugh too. She stops. "Being serious for a moment, thank you for telling me the information I need."

Her head tilts. "What exactly are you guys planning?"

I smile. "That's classified."

She unclasps her dress. Her skin is very smooth. "Please?"

"Appia... You are... Way too hairless for that to work on me."

She bursts with laughter.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"The Sinews Of War, Part 4"
28th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Mei Hua​

Osshi and I look at the egg beneath the warm orange glow of the heater. He caresses me gently, then kisses me. "Our child."

I smile as I soothe my body. "I love them, but I am glad it's just one egg."

"How did it compare to giving birth?"

"I had an easier time than Naomi, so I can't complain. But this egg is still pretty big." I kiss him. "I never thought this would happen for us."

He cradles my head. "This is what I expected from Life2.0."

I nod, thinking of Rivkah's announcement of the Megaton Casaba Howlitzer program. "Not thermonuclear weapons."

My husband sighs. "Sharpbeak is a strong opponent."

"Tell me."

"His people perfected the art of strikecraft combat. He took it to the galactic stage."

I try to remember the history. "It always seemed strange that the Nalynoids took him on."

"Don't forget that they started the war with conventional forces, not the Ether Drakes they became infamous for. At the time, he was tasked with organising their own strikecraft efforts. It was only as attrition set in and they needed more than Alloys to send into battle that they began releasing monsters."

"What happened to the Drakes?"

"They were freed to wander space. The Galactic Community resisted Prikki demands to destroy them in favour of adding them to the Tiyanki and Amoeba protection legislation."

"Why?"

"They were sentient beings. It was argued that they were enslaved by their makers."

"Grepp ranted for hours when Skrand's involvement was announced."

"He lost quite a few batchmates to Skrand."

"Batchmates?"

"The Prikki Clone Vats produce Prikki in batches who are raised communally with natural hatched Prikki like Grepp and his sister."

"Do you know them well?"

"I knew Nooki well. She was a good person, and not just good for a Prikki. Grepp not so well. Grepp and Nooki are Starborn. That's the governance and command caste of Prikki society. Not as vicious as other Prikki as they have a much more long term view."

I look back at our egg. "Do you think Grepp wants revenge on Skrand?"

He looks at me. "If revenge is best served cold, then Starborn have ice running through their veins."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Offered"
28th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Appia Flavonius​

I'm a little surprised when Grepp takes the stand in the afternoon. It was supposed to be Caeso... Odd. I mean, he had asked Rivkah for permission to address the conference, but not this early...

Still... It'll be interesting.

I stand. "In an unplanned alteration to the schedule, we have Grepp-Schnepp Rikki, brother of the late Nooki-Schnepp Rikki."

He licks an eyeball. "Thank you, CEO Appia Flavonius. I am Grepp-Schnepp Rikki, Starborn of the Immortal Prikkiki-Ti. I have been conferring with the Prikkiki-Ti since my sister's murder, keeping them up to date on developments within Life2.0 and MSI. I have been authorised to give a proposal. Skrand Sharpbeak is a wanted life to the Prikkiki-Ti for the deaths in battle of several Starborn in the Last Great War, and for his attack on our Sentry Arrays, authorised by your predecessor." He looks at me. "The Prikkiki-Ti recognises that there has been a substantial change in MSI since that error in judgement that would have recieved greater attention were it not for the actions of others meriting priority."

He lets the words hang in the air.

"In exchange for Skrand Sharpbeak, the Prikkiki-Ti is willing to overlook that mistake. We recognise however, that Sharpbeak has a superior naval strength to the Reformist MSI. This is something we wish to correct. Gateway access is currently prohibited to the Prikkiki-Ti, an impudence we note is not your fault. If MSI opens their Gateways to the Prikkiki-Ti, we shall deal with Skrand Sharpbeak."

I weigh the implications.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, 1st Consideration"
28th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Appia Flavonius​

The perks of executive quarters are the ceiling is a display. I set it to a tactical overlay of MSI space, inhale from the underwear Elizabeth gave to me at the docking terminal as a saying goodbye gift, and have a little time for one beneath the stars.

Unfortunately, even she isn't enough to distract me.

The Prikki keep me from sleep in a waking nightmare.

If I accept the threat and allow their fleet to roam to hunt Sharpbeak, then I win the battle and lose the war. The Prikki are not who you want to be indebted to like that.

My forces alone definitely can't, and there's not enough credit to pay mercenaries enough to take the job. And my allies... Objectively, they shouldn't be able to. But they should have lost to Gaius and Gnaea...

Skrand is not coming straight to the capital. Septima would be, if she was in command, but Skrand will look at my situation and recognise that I can't protect my allies if he starts raiding.

I summon Elizabeth's beauty to mind.

But it's just a fantasy, isn't it?

Just like my grip on power.

I put my dress back on, and hail Sharpbeak.

He scowls. "Flavonius."

"Skrand... We need to come to terms."

"Why? I'm not afraid of the Prikki. You let them in and you lose. You know that."

"I want to make a proposal."

All four eyes narrow at me. "Speak."

"If you let me keep public leadership, I'll accept being a junior partner in a diarchy."

His squarks splutter. "You think you can control me. Just like Septima. But if I'm patient I can be rid of both of you."

"What?"

"Ask your young furry toy about a Kyaese called Kryydur."

He cuts the channel. I hail Rivkah.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, 2nd Consideration"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Appia Flavonius​

Rivkah's red reflective eyes are the first things I see in the gloom of very early morning. "Rivkah, I need information from you."

I recoil as she yawns. How many teeth? "Appia, it's 3am."

"Indulge me."

"Fine. What's wrong?"

"I just spoke to Sharpbeak hoping I could leverage the Prikki threat, it was no good. He cut comms after telling me to ask you about Kryydur."

She tosses her head to wake herself. "He's a Kyaese Commander who's been one of Mum's thousand volunteers since the beginning. He asked to take a monopole ship to raid Septima's holdings. How could Sharpbeak know..."

I nod. "That's what I thought too, there's a spy."

"Or our security measures are a little lax."

"I must confess that I've been wondering... Weapons development for example, you don't even encrypt your data."

She snorts. "Mum prefers it that way. We get quicker developments as there's no need to waste time maintaining security and our peer review process can operate much more quickly. Plus, we have a very innovative private sector when it comes to weapons development and it's better to keep everyone on the same page."

"What will you do?"

"Ask Kryydur how Sharpbeak knows him by name."

"Second question."

"Go on?"

"Grepp. What's his angle here?"

She yawns again. "Grepp wants to develop a regional power to balance out Arishkan power in the area. He thinks Mum and Uncle Thando are the right people."

"He knows we can't jeopardise the status of Designated Uplifter, right? Is his angle to use that as a pretext for invasion?"

"Nope. He wants to get Life2.0 into the Designated Uplifter position. If MSI leave it vacant, he thinks we can swing the vote."

"That leaves me leading a defunct state though..."

She shuffles. "Which he thinks we can then take over in a merger."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Kryydur"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Somewhat surprisingly, Kryydur does actually come when summoned. "Rivkah, is there a problem?"

I shut the door behind him. He watches me very carefully. "That depends on why Sharpbeak mentioned you personally to Appia yesterday."

He stays silent.

Thinking it over. Weaving a lie maybe? I glower at him.

"I can explain."

"Good. Because from where I sat, the most likely explanation is he's spying on us and knows that we're preparing to send you to raid Septima, and therefore may well inform her and ruin the plan. Worst case, you intend to take an irreplaceable engine and some of our best Kyaese and defect."

He shrinks. "It isn't like those."

I step closer. "Are you a traitor then?"

"Not a traitor. Double-agent, at worst."

Inwardly... I can't believe it. "Who are you working for?"

"The Kyaese people. Via Sharpbeak and you."

I grasp him, lift him to my level. His eyes bulge right in front of mine. "Explain."

Lots of wheezes. I relax my grip. "Please put me down."

I let go. He lands on the table. He preens his ruffled feathers. "Long answer or short?"

I scowl. "Everything."

He fliches, and runs his hands over his throat. "Sharpbeak has been secretly backing Lokra-Kitan and Kyaese resistance since a little before your Mum and Uncle were born. One of those ways was arranging agents onto slave ships that would be the beginning of a slave revolt, much like your Mum planned."

"How?"

"Sharpbeak owns a MSI subsidiary that does ship and weapons development for MSI, and he directs the profits via shell subsidiaries and slush funds into Indentured Asset retailers and piracy, then uses the latter to rob the former. Worked brilliantly until Gnaea started cracking down on it."

I turn the new information over. "First question. If that's true, why did he go along with Gnaea's orders to attack the Lokra-Kitan?"

His beak imitates a smile. "Have you actually heard of any confirmed casualties from Skrand's attack?"

I sit down. He's right. C'ean Comms haven't covered anything of the attack, Appia only specified he was sent... Cacaak didn't even mention there being any casualties. What if the attack was never actually conducted? "No. I haven't."

"Because there weren't any. Sharpbeak destroyed dummy targets and doctored images of previous orbital bombardments to satisfy Gnaea he had done the job, only he never needed to send them in."

I tap my wrist communicator. "Second question. Didn't Gnaea know that Sharpbeak was a Reformer?"

"Sharpbeak isn't the same kind of reformer. More extensive goals."

"Tear it down and start over type."

"Exactly. He's waiting, but I'm not sure what for."

"Third Question. Can you contact him?"

He looks at his feet. Takes his time. "Do you have any emetics?"

I pause. "No. Why?"

He slowly walks backwards away from me. "The communication device is smuggled past MSI's security in the stomach."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Sharpbeak"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"Ah Kryydur. I see you got the message. Where is Rivkah?"

Kryydur looks at me. "Here."

"Good. Bring her on."

I walk over.

The Avian and I stare at each other. It lasts ages, as neither of us back down. Eventually biology means he yields as he blinks to stop his eyes drying. I smile inside at the perks of being a member of a race with secondary eyelids.

Contest over, we look at each other. Four eyes, with red and white plumage. He wears a colourful uniform. I'm wearing a dress and cape, both crimson. I've decided I like dresses.

He speaks first. "We should talk. There is much to discuss."

"Kryydur tells me you are actually an ally, of sorts."

He sighs. "You distrust me, yet trust Appia."

"Appia has her downsides, but at least she's an opportunity to direct the future of MSI in a favourable way."

He shakes his head. "You don't understand Olinbari the way I do, girl."

I bare my teeth. "Enlighten me."

"At a personal level, Appia feigns allegiance because she needs your support. But you don't need hers. At the systemic, Appia is a symptom of the deeper problems within MSI, their greed, their lust, their cognitive dissonance, et cetera ad nauseam. The correct thing to do with cancer is cut it out. Do you think it is by accident that I have maneuvered into the position of strength within MSI's military?"

"Of course not."

"Thanks to you, MSI is no longer strong enough to stop me. Appia knows that, which is why she is trying to turn you against me."

"You sided with the Traditionalists."

Shrill laughter sounds. "Because Appia got you, and through you got the Humans and took the Lokra-Kitan from me in an effort to isolate me from those I've been supporting. I was left having to side with the Traditionalists so that I could get them to waste their time on stopping Appia."

"And what's your plan now?"

"Hear me out. Forget what Appia has told you about me for a moment, and hear me out."

I scowl. "Do you know who I am?"

"Not personally, no."

"I'm the adopted child of Naomi and Buri. I grew up afraid that one day MSI would descend from the stars and carry us all away into the night. And then your name was raised in hushed whispers, this legendary leader who was so powerful with a fleet of cloaked ships who was loyal to the Traditionalists who freed him and let him establish himself... Ever since I heard of you, I've had to plan to fight you."

He nods. "Such is the way Appia exploits my position to keep you on her side."

"You can imagine it's difficult to hear when you say we're not enemies."

"I can. You are right, I am the monster in the dark MSI keeps chained up to loose on those that merit their wrath. But no more. You broke their fleet in an act of perfidious brilliance, and that means we can look to the future. Which means discussing my past. Tell me, what do you know of my people, the Skarvarids?"

"Nothing."

"Precisely. Me and my people are the last of our kind. Our world was attacked, and we were sent to punch a hole to allow them to escape. We don't know if they did. After that, we turned mercenary, eventually were trapped by the Prikki. MSI freed us, and soon after a mutual acquaintance earned my respect. And he is why I trust you enough to have this conversation. You and I represent two schemes of his Rivkah."

I scowl again. "So why weren't we told?"

Skrand lifts his eyes, his beak forming a parody of a smile. I turn to see what he's smirking at.

"You never tie two boats in a storm."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Unveiled"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Grepp.

The words hit me, but I suppress the impact as rage takes over, and I pin the slippery little gecko to the ground. I growl in his face. "Explain yourself, or I'll have breakfast."

He imitates a yawn. "Are you done?"

"You backstabbing little reptile. You were working with them all along!"

Grepp stares at me. "Get off me, child."

"Why should I?"

He licks an eyeball, then flicks me with a finger, and I'm flung across the room by a torrent of force. He stands, and dusts himself off. "Because I said so. Now listen like a good girl, I dislike repeating myself." He turns to Skrand. "We are moving into the second stage of the game. Excuse Rivkah, she has the temper of her father, and it sometimes overwhelms the intellect of her mother." Then he looks at both of us. "Remember, you two are allies now."

I snarl. "You Prikki really are pricks."

He chuckles. "My dear Rivkah, here is a very simple question. Please answer it - why did you assume I only had one plan in mind? Do you think I've been doing nothing towards my goals all this time?"

"'You never tie two boats in a storm.' What you just said..."

"The quotation should be familiar to you."

I glare at him. "It is. So are us and Sharpbeak the only boats?"

"No. But you are the boats we are introducing to the open plan now. The others will come in due time." He looks at me. "Since your anger is making you dense, I will put things your mother would have figured out into words. Your Life2.0 and Skrand are two paths towards my intentions for an alliance of Uplifted Pre-FTLs in the region. Between us three we will decide the fate of MSI. First subject is Appia; do we bring her on board, or not?"

Sharpbeak speaks first. "We can't trust her."

I snort while I look at Sharpbeak. "We can't trust him."

Sharpbeak frowns. "Rivkah, Grepp has been working on this project since the Last Great War."

I glare at Grepp. "He wants a puppet-state that he controls. He's no different to MSI. Worse in fact, he's a Prikki, and everything he says comes with the threat of reducing you and everyone you love to protein soup."

Grepp smirks. "Would you prefer dishonesty?"

I snarl. "I'd prefer not to be tied to a callous monster who thinks nothing of anyone else."

Damn his smirking. "Rivkah, you can imagine my head on a pike as much as you like, the fact remains we have work to do. Now, what say you on Appia?"

I stare at Grepp, knowing he's already decided what will happen to Appia. "We keep her, or Life2.0 walks."

Outwardly, I'm still struggling to decide who I want to gore first. But I'm settling on Grepp. Inwardly... The knowledge that I'm joining a woman who raped my mother, a threat and a monster in an alliance leaves me realising that I've never felt so alone as I feel right now.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Exposed"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

Buri and I watch the scene. When it ends, I look at Buri first. "Maybe us going away was a bit badly timed."

Buri looks at Grepp the way he looks at other predators on hunting trips. "We have to get back for her."

We look at the Holocron, and entwine our claws. "How much longer?"

He leans forward. "You've got ten days left. We can short-cut it by synthetic substitutes, but I can't emphasise enough how much I recommend you finish the process."

"What exactly is left?"

"Some internal organ development for lung and heart strengthening, dermal layer generation, plus diagnostic whole system checks."

The Holocron reclines. "I could take a message to her. We've got to talk anyway about the weapons development projects."

Buri and I look at each other. I nuzzle him. "I'm worried for her."

"I think we need to do some serious combat training while we are in here."

"Yes..." I look at the Holocron. "Don't let her feel isolated, please. She has to know that Grepp's way isn't the only way."

"What strategy would you have her do?"

I close my eyes, focus on the variables. Buri joins me, and we work through the analysis together. "We need to get strong enough to beat the Prikki. We need more allies, and we need more power, because until we are strong enough to beat them, all we will do is swap out MSI for the Prikki. There's got to be other factions out there who can help us. We need to keep it secret from Grepp... Can Grepp manipulate Psionics? Maybe we can find allies out there through Vorosh. Or C'ean Comms. But the most important thing is we need Rivkah to have allies she can trust."

Buri finishes. "And Grepp must die."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Switzerland"
29th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Until now, I never actually thought about how the Holocron did the mining for building his underground facilities.

But standing here watching the test firing of an eleven megaton Casaba howlitzer...

I'm wearing a lead armour suit in a lead box looking through googles so darkly tinted even my eyesight is struggling. A Human would be blind.

And then the flash as a five ton fusion boosted nuke detonates and leaves a cavern glowing red from the searing plasma of the thirty tonnes of beryllium oxide tearing its way through rock.

Eventually, the Holocron turns to me. "As you can see, we've been hard at work developing weapons."

"Good. What we need to discuss is just which scale of casaba we need."

"I've been discussing shielding technologies with Appia, and after converting MSI's Power units into Joules and Watts, I believe that they have hundreds of terajoules in their shielding systems."

He thinks about that momentarily. "Then we can make a good fight of it."

"I'm a little worried about the armour. Neutronium pellet reinforced."

"Solid neutronium could be a problem, but they must have neutronium fibre, like epoxy resin holding carbon fibres. The mass penalty would be too great to use anything beyond a single micron of neutronium."

"I've been thinking about trying to make the casabas into kinetic weapons. MSI rely on shields more than armour, and a shield is going to struggle with a several tonne chunk of metal."

"In the lab, I have weapons derived from the bomb you've just seen capable of sending said several tonne chunk of metal at over half a million metres per second. Look up explosively formed projectile and put a device like that behind it."

"How soon can you have them battle ready?"

He thinks for a while. "How many do you need?"

"The immediate target is MSI. After that, we need to think about the Prikki."

"Grepp."

"Yes."

"Your father wants to eat him."

"You showed them the recording then."

"Your Mum wants me to tell you to find allies. That you aren't alone."

"I feel alone. I'm stuck in a quartet with Grepp, Skrand and Appia."

"There's an alternative. Whoever comes to attack Unity has to either get within jump drive range, or come through the Hyperlanes. We can ambush them."

I turn back to the still red cavern. I smile. "Pinball."

"What we lack is a means of going on the offensive."

I think of Old Earth. "True. But maybe all we need is to be Switzerland."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Desperation"
30th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

I admire her beauty in her white dress as she cuddles me. Sighs her contentment as she pulls her hair out of her eyes. "I feel good."

I stretch to nuzzle her. "I'm glad you do."

She looks at me. "Buri, would you tell me what you are thinking about?"

"Apart from this... I'm thinking about MSI, and the Prikki, the Arishkan..."

She nuzzles me. "If your wife is making love to you and that's still on your mind... Want to talk about it?"

"Do you ever wonder if you are a little too win at all costs?"

"What choice do I have? If I didn't, I would have been recycled..."

I let the definition flow through. When MSI has no more use for an Indentured Asset, they inject a large quantity of sedative, extract the organs to sell to desperate Indentured Assets, and then grind the rest to powder to extract the remaining resources. Nothing wasted.

"I suppose."

"I'm desperate to win, because defeat is... Unbearable. If we lose now, after humiliating MSI in battle twice... The best we can hope for is they just kill us all."

She starts to cry. I strain to comfort her. "I'm sorry Naomi."

"Buri... Only in victory can I put things right."

The words hang for a while. "I'm sorry for killing the mood."

She nuzzles me. "I love you Buri."

We lay together as light pours into the window. "I'm glad I'm with you Naomi."

"Being your wife is the best... I had no idea if I'd ever find anyone who would love me even a hundredth of how much you do, husband." She sighs. "I'm getting in the mood again."

I smile. "Naomi?"

She nuzzles me. "Yes husband?"

I look at my hands and feet. "May I be untied now?"

She nuzzles me, then leans back straight. Her eyes focus on mine as she lifts her cascading dress off, revealing her black leather. She smiles.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Why We Can Trust Life2.0"
30th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Caeso Canius​

I look at the conference. "I know for many of you, you might have concerns about an alliance with Life2.0. After all, they were enslaved and broke free and now could theoretically go on the offensive. I wish to look at the family at the core of Life2.0 to explain why we can trust them."

I look up at the Human woman on the screen. "This was the image of Atalyah HaMaadimi when I first bid for her services. A suit of a style more than a hundred years old, a ferocious intellect behind the fiercest blue eyes I've seen on a Human. The first Indentured Asset of any species to ever score over a thousand points on our mental apptitude test, beyond even our greatest genius. At the time I was weighing up buying Shareholder status. I invested it in her instead."

I look around the room. I remember most of them as children. "Atalyah joined me on Colonia Lux on my staff in the Governor's Residence. I gave her Marcus as a husband almost immediately, hoping to get her children. At the time, I looked at her like any Olinbari of our age looked at an Indentured Asset - she was a tool, and a staggeringly effective one. Work that once required more than a thousand staff members she could do without difficulty. Even while sleeping part of her consciousness. My office soon became dependent on her, and she used that position to begin working for the freedom of other Indentured Assets, and discussing the need for reform."

I sweep the room again. "Atalyah was executed before her time. The loss of her nearly bankrupted me as I needed to recruit more than a thousand people to match what I lost, and I went from looking at becoming a Shareholder to being bought out by Brutus Licenius."

I look back up at her blue eyes. "She asked me a question once. 'Conquest is not the same as control Caeso. Revolution is inevitable; how long can you resist the tide?' It turns out that the answer was just fourty four years. Atalyah was never brutal. She was a disector who could comprehend incredibly complex situations and analyse outcomes and variables. And she, through persistence, led me to change my perspective. By the time I joined Gaius Licenius for his disastrous expedition, I was a Reformer, and I wanted to work with Atalyah's daughter Naomi."

The picture changes to Naomi and Buri's wedding day.

"Naomi is one of the most Xenophile Humans I have ever known, and this despite being used as a Companionship Asset. Her marriage to Buri is one of the sweetest relationships I've ever seen, and despite all that Olinbari have done to her, she is committed to the principle of equality. Under her leadership Olinbari have been able to pursue life and even leadership within Life2.0. There's no better model for the future of a reformed MSI than what Atalyah's daughter has built."

I smile at the next picture; Rivkah and Ruki. "Naomi and Buri have two children of their own. Rivkah is the older, and is adopted from birth, while Ruki is the product of the work of hundreds of scientists blending Atalyah's genetic reworking with a Xenayan body. This technology is available to all in Life2.0; even Olinbari."

I give one more look around the room. "Life2.0 is only the beginning of what can happen by treating our Enlightened allies as equals."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Faustian Pact, Discussed"
30th Hoggagha, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Appia sits silent, her mask failing to hide her pursed lips and tense body as she listens to the recording.

By the end...

She sighs. "That Grepp is a nasty piece of work."

"Agreed! Mum and Dad agree too. Dad wants to eat him."

"You interrupted their holiday?'

"The Holocron did, but essentially yes."

Appia holds her head. "You want me alive, Grepp and Skrand want me dead... How many more people do you think he might have? He's admitted he has other people... He has trapped us two in this now." She sighs as her head hits the table.

I gently put my arm around her. "Appia, Grepp wants us two to feel trapped without options. Us two feeling trapped makes us easier to control."

"True." She sighs. "His endgame is uniting MSI and Life2.0, right?"

"That's what he claims to me, but he's a duplicitous little lizard and I don't like him."

"Which he knows because you pounced on him and threatened to eat him. He knows he's untouchable because he's Prikki." She smiles as she perks her head up. "We can use that against him by making his position unviable to support."

"How?"

She rushes to grab a subspace communications system. "We can counter their intimidation by escalating the stakes from it being us vs the Prikki. We could go to the Galactic Community, or we could go to the Nalynoids. Either would make the Prikki think twice."

"And if the Prikki won't back up his threats..."

"We can at least avert war. Possibly not me being assassinated though... Skrand is obviously either his contingency plan or was the main plan all along. If unifying is becomes impossible, then he's just going to take us both out."

"What options does he have? Mercenaries?"

"Plus Skrand. Mercenary contracts are very unreliable though, competition law is such you can't get exclusive service, the mercenaries are always entitled to accept better offers, even if it's in the middle of a battle."

"Who made that legal?"

"The Galactic Community."

I lean on the table. It creaks. "Why would that be the case? Do mercenary companies get equal votes or something?"

"No, it was a concession as part of paying off a bloodthirsty warlord who united some marauders a few centuries back." She looks at me. "Life2.0... You haven't got any debt, right?"

I laugh. "We don't even have money Appia."

"Oh."

I have an idea. "But we could get some... Who hosts that 10k Energy Credits for my uncle's head bounty?"

"It's deposited with the Galactic Community Extra-Judicial Measures Bureau, why? You can't be thinking of cashing in."

I smile. "Let me worry about getting the head."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Breathless"
1st Daas, 10 (2189)
Thando HaMaadimi​

Alexandra dumps another failed pregnancy test on the wash basin, her brow creased. I pull her into my arms as she sighs.

She looks at me. "I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with us."

"Could be overuse."

She blushes. Then sighs. "That's the kind of comment Gillian used to make."

"She's a lot less bitter now she has her Leonardo."

Alexandra wriggles around, buries her face in my chest. "I don't want another war Thando." She looks at me. Her eyes are filled with pain. "Rivkah talked to me yesterday about faking your death so that she can claim the 10k Energy Credit bounty, and it's weighing on my mind..."

I laugh. "Oh, they've tried."

She grabs my butt. "I love you Thando. I don't want to lose you."

I see it in her eyes. "You said yes."

"It's being done as a deal; to make Appia's position stronger, we're making a concession and surrendering an animatronic of you into Appia's custody, and then Appia will arrange the bounty to be transferred to Life2.0."

"And us?"

"I talked to the Holocron about the vats. He showed me Naomi's new appearance. I figure that... That the colony can't hide you anymore husband. Now it's a known fact you're here... I don't want to lose you because some bounty hunter thought they'd try to claim it first."

I take a deep breath. "Ok. What do you have in mind?"

"I figure that we can't stay looking Human."

We look into each other's eyes for quite a while. I break the silence. "What are you thinking?"

She shows me a hologram of an Elven woman and her Klingon man. "What do you think? Could you imagine me with pointed ears?"

"I could. But imagining me with head ridges is easier." I laugh. She joins me.

"I thought so too. I'm open to suggestions, although I'm not so keen on going full furry like Naomi has."

Ah. "What's Sis done?"

She sucks in air. "Black wolf with horns and sabres."

"I see what you mean by full furry."

She smiles. "Yes. I'm content with looking a bit rubber forehead alien."

I peck her cheek, and hold her hips. "Our kids are going to look so weird."

She leans back, and drops her dressing gown. "Well, I suppose we could have one more try then."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"External Investment"
1st Daas, 10 (2189)
Appia Flavonius​

The holographic room depicts me, Rivkah and three people I want her to meet. I point to each of them in turn. "Rivkah, this is Kuuma Aduluua, Senior Valuations Analysist for the Chisudai."

Rivkah tips her head. The Chisudai looks at her. "Greetings."

I point at the plant-like droid. "This is Unit H4, Partnerships Advisor, FabbiCorp."

The droid rotates various sensors as it looks at Rivkah. Rivkah... Stares.

"And this is Star-Marshal Narvik, Councillor for the Coalition Of Independent Security Solutions."

Rivkah looks down at him. "You look like a bundle of fluff."

He frowns. "My Goodlady, you will either retract that insult, or you will learn manners." He draws his blade. A razor-thin rapier to suit the rather small Turikan; not even thigh high on Rivkah.

Naturally Rivkah has her own out immediately after; black broadsword. I take several steps back as Rivkah bares her teeth.

Narvik responds in kind, leaping to the floor. Rivkah tosses her head back and roars.

The two holograms clash; both blades pass straight through each other, of course. Both recover from the exchange with ease, with Narvik on the defensive, pacing himself as he analyses Rivkah.

Rivkah responds in kind; they circle each other. I look to the others. "Shall we discuss terms?"

Kuuma looks at me. "Turn the safeties off so that they can actually fight. This could be mildly amusing."

I weigh the situation... I need to keep her on side. "Very well."

Narvik opens a ferocious set of attacks as he tries to skewer Rivkah. Rivkah's defence is interesting, it's a mixture of Human and Olinbari forms with tweaks to suit her own nature and the fact she wears... armour at list a fist thick in places. Not including the spikes. She gets a counter-strike in; Narvik flows with the impact and recovers, but he's still flung across the room from where Rivkah hit him. Now he's airborne again, trying to leap over her as she leaps, her head tossing as he passes, their swords meeting as they cross.

Narvik charges again, trying to open Rivkah up, looking for chinks in her armour, stabbing at her, ducking and diving out of her counters.

Rivkah is starting to get annoyed as he manages to be just quick enough to evade. Eventually she changes plan, and begins leaving a gap. Narvik exploits the opening and rams home his rapier until the blade gets stuck in her hips; Rivkah grabs him. He struggles in vain to get free.

I smile. "I believe that's a draw."

Narvik squeals. "I got her first!"

Rivkah laughs. "So? You're a snack!"

Kuuma looks at Narvik. "I'm sorry Star-Marshal, but she has a point."

Rivkah and Narvik look at each other. Rivkah puts Narvik down. He bows. "Well fought, Goodlady."

"Likewise."

Kuuma taps her dias. "Shall we get to our schedule for the day. Appia, you are looking for how much exactly?"

"An extension of further credit to fund the retention of mercenaries-"

The Star-Marshal interjects. "Facing Skrand Sharpbeak carries a very substantial premium Appia. In advance of this meeting I did obtain quotes from my membership, and I've not had a quote less than fifty thousand Energy Credits from a company sufficiently capable of the task. Most declined to quote."

I smile. "Sharpbeak is being dealt with by Life2.0. what I need them for is smashing Septima's stronghold around Cybrex Beta."

All three of them look at Rivkah. Narvik continues. "The Goodlady is impressive, but swordsmanship is rather irrelevant to starship combat. I don't see how she can beat him."

Rivkah smiles. "Skrand has his price, and it's one Life2.0 is able to pay. We just aren't seeking to reveal our hand yet."

I look at Narvik. "If I guarantee your contractors will not face Sharpbeak, how would that affect fees?"

"Without a detailed justification for that clause, I'm afraid it can only been seen by the members as a bait and switch."

Rivkah sighs. "Ok then, then we need the loans to buy conversion monopole grid engines."

Kuuma looks through her system. H4 looks at Rivkah. "We could assist in establishing a production line for the conversion grids."

"That would be helpful, but we need the immediate results."

Kuuma perks her head up. "What sized ships are you looking for?"

Rivkah looks to her left and talks to someone off screen. "We're currently using-" She looks left again. "-twelve Arpharasi Torgaru-Gar engines."

Narvik raises an eyebrow. "Arishkan engines. Interesting."

Kuuma starts looking at her display. "Arpharasi... the Salvager Consortium is listing quite a few ships with those engines, although obviously their ships are of... less certain provenance. The amount Appia would pay for mercenaries would practically buy the stock outright."

Rivkah looks at me. "Well?"

Kuuma puts the display up on the main viewer. I think about it.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Like Mother, Like Daughter"
2nd Daas, 10 (2189)
Naomi Of Unity​

The Holocron joins us. "There's a few things you should be aware of before you return to normal life next week."

Buri holds me tighter. "How bad?"

"Appia has just spent 10k Energy Credits on engines for Life2.0."

Oh. "Who's paying the debt?"

"Thando."

I'm stunned. "What?"

Rivkah talked it through with Alexandra. Rivkah wants the 10k bounty, Alexandra wants her husband safe before someone else comes to collect now his location is known, Appia needs to look tough to settle internal problems. They're going to send an animatronic of Thando to Appia, Appia will arrange a trial, 'Thando' will be executed, the Galactic Community will release the funds Gnaea Titius set aside. Alexandra and Thando will then have their time in these vats."

"It's a bit drastic. How did they convince him to go along with it?"

"Alexandra."

Buri nuzzles my head. "He loves her."

The Holocron nods. He waves a hand, and our clothes gain a little extra decoration. "Leonardo Veres has developed a new uniform set."

A mirror appears, and Buri holds my hips as I...

Well, I look great in crimson; black and red go together well whether skin or fur. I hold my husband's hips as we swap places - he looks really handsome as his golden brown fur contrasts with his own crimson uniform, the details looking like splashes of something else's blood on my apex predator. I nuzzle his ear. "I like it."

He faces me, pulling me close. "You look..." He purrs as he looks me over. I smile as his eyes feast on me.

"Before you two get carried away, there's more."

Both of us snap to attention. "What like?"

"The developments politically surrounding Grepp's machinations have led Rivkah into a point where she feels out of depth when dealing with so many backstabbers. She would appreciate advice."

Buri and I look at each other as our minds join. Together we think about it. Eventually we reach consensus. "Is she still trying to do everything on her own?"

"Very much so."

Buri nuzzles me. "We never taught her how to lead when not everyone is aligned."

I nod. "We had already settled that complication." I look at the Holocron. "Who is she bringing to negotiations to help her?"

"Herself."

Buri looks at me. I look at him. He doesn't need to say it, and I gulp. "It does seem she's using one of my bad habits..." I sigh. "We need to ensure that she isn't alone. That she has support..."

Buri nuzzles me. "We need another week delay, so that we can help her too."

I smile. "Yes." I turn to the Holocron. "Tell her that she needs to take a week in consultation with other members of Life2.0 and check things over." Buri nuzzles me. "And that she's making her Mum's mistakes again."

The Holocron departs.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"At Waldonice"
3rd Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah of Unity​

Stepping out of the cool desert night into the biggest Thostrunaean settlement on Unity feels strange. It's carved beneath a mountain, and entering a world built for giants...

Everything towers over me. For once, I feel small.

Eventually, I find Shendredie's residence. I bang on the stone door.

A female Thostrunean answers. "Hello Rivkah. Come on in."

I follow. She leads me to an observatory, and she joins Shendredie, runs her hand on his. They look at each other, then he turns to me. "Hello Rivkah." His eyes twinkle. "What do you want my thoughts on?"

"A second opinion on current events."

They sit on chairs. I pounce onto a table. "Um, may I ask who's this?"

Shendredie puts his arm around her. "This is Karlamirie, my wife." He turns to her, runs a finger through her necklace composed of Researcher Green uniform adornments. "And my head of physics research."

"A pleasure to meet you at last Rivkah."

"Likewise. I have a predicament."

She leans forward. "We've been watching. I'm glad we've found a peaceful solution... I've been worried about the alternative."

"We're prepared for that eventuality. No, what I need is a second opinion. Appia for example; would you trust her?"

They hold hands. Karlamirie continues. "She's going through something of a personal re-invention. It remains to be seen if the changes are permanent, but it's looking positive. But the big question is whether she can stay there."

"That's the other bit. Grepp."

"The Prikki."

"Turns out he's had Skrand in his web for decades as a deep cover operative."

She sighs relief. "Oh good. That's a relief." She looks at Shendredie. "I've been worried we'd have to use it."

I look at each of them. "Use what?"

She sighs. "We have been working on a few things."

"Were you guys re-purposing the resources Mum sent for the hyperdrive development program?"

She smiles. "We... Well, a little. The direction of high energy physics has numerous applications, and well, we needed the capability to test and manage gigawatts, and your mother was always open to exploring numerous ideas to keep MSI at bay, so..."

"What are you guys working on, really?"

They stand, and I follow in silence.

We descend deeper into the mountain. Eventually, we arrive at a glass box overlooking a cavern. "This is our solution."

"A disc? What's it for?"

She laughs. "Daas' team were working on ones that could be mounted on a spaceship." I realise what it is. "There's... Hundreds of metres of rock above us. Have you built a radio wave laser? Nothing else would work."

"This test one is good for megajoules per square metre at 300km."

"This one? And that doesn't sound very impressive, Daas has lasers up at terajoules per square metre at 300km."

"Not from under seawater he doesn't - Daas' lasers wouldn't get through the lower atmosphere, and MSI's lasers wouldn't get through the uppermost atmosphere as all their wavelengths get absorbed. We've been working on submarine versions, as reactors that can discharge waste heat to seawater can get very efficient, we have variants of Daas' 1GW reactor for our ships up at 5GW for our submersible lasers. And there are advantages - the diffusion means that the whole enemy ship is bathed in the radio waves, and the materials that are used in the construction of warship hulls and armours especially are generally transparent to or reflective of radio waves."

"That's bad though... The energy needs to be absorbed to damage stuff."

"The radio waves get inside the enemy ship and then bounce around inside it. Crews and electrics don't like being having very high power radio waves bouncing around, gets rather warm and with high induced currents in electrical devices. All while our subs are safe from counter attack under water - their lasers wouldn't get anywhere near our subs, water impact would ruin kinetics, leaving missiles and depth charges that can be intercepted by surface anti-air or outrun by diving."

I sit. I think. "Well... Ok."

Shendredie rests a hand on my shoulder. "You wanted a second opinion Rivkah - here's ours. We have a whole bunch of very imaginative and creative folk on Unity who believe in the vision your mother gave them. At first I didn't, but your mother is... Very persuasive. Maybe Appia's new direction can be trusted, but either way, they need to earn our trust before we cooperate with them."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Sky Full Of Stars"
3rd Daas, 10 (2189)
Alexandra HaMaadimi​

He plays with my hair as I rest my head in his lap. "I can see why Naomi and Buri come here."

"It's a lovely view." He kisses my cheek. "But not as nice as the one I get looking down."

I tsk. "Thando."

He sighs. I shift to sit beside him. "What's wrong, husband?"

He takes my hand. "I don't want to fake my death again." He kisses me. "Not now that I have someone to live for."

I lean into him. "I'm just... I'm worried. The more established we get, the more known you get... There's risks."

He kisses me. Then shrugs. "You get used to it, looking over your shoulder, wondering when you'll get ambushed. Learning to sleep with your eyes open."

"I'm glad you stopped doing that. It was disturbing..."

"But necessary. You have to see it from my perspective... To me, I'm on a world where I no longer have to hide like that. Do you know how freeing it is to finally be somewhere where I know that no one will betray me? Instead, Leonardo gave me a medal." I look at his chest, at the representation of a Dyson sphere. "I finally got to show off my parazonium collection here. I've been building that for decades. And you would not believe how much trouble keeping even that much of the collection was."

I look at his eyes. "There was more?"

"Yeah... I had to go to ground a lot. Not many safehouses on the run, nowhere to store possessions except keeping them on me. And even I run out of room for knives."

I smile, and kiss him. "It was a hard road."

He nods. "And now I'm not alone."

"You had Ming."

He laughs. "Ming... Talks to himself too much."

"Lots of people do."

"A quarter of what he says is for other people. Whole family is dead, and he talks to himself because he misses them." He kisses me. "But I never had anyone, until I met you."

"Kaylara?"

"Professional relations only. Nope, all I had were dreams that maybe one day... A miracle would happen. That I'd find someone, somewhere safe."

He stands, and looks out over Hortensus' Folly. I take his hand. "You found this place."

"And you." He turns to me. "I'm gorydamn done hiding Alex. I have a home. I don't want to fake my execution; death has to earn it's bounties. I told Rivkah that. I don't want to live in fear any more. Sis has half a million nukes she'd use on anyone who tries to take me away, and those people down there? They didn't know at first, but they look at me like I'm a living legend ever since I poured those parazoniums out at Sis' trial. have you and Rivkah considered the morale hit from selling my head?"

I stay silently looking into his eyes. Funny now, we got our missing eyes replaced together... Here, on our adoptive home. He's right. "I'm sorry Thando. I'll talk to Rivkah in the morning."

He lies down. "The only one I see is you."

"What?"

He points up. "Star. You."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Fan Hitting"
4th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Strange, no reply from Appia...

Odd.

I review what I have to say.

Alexandra has backed out of the selling fake-Thando to MSI. Problem is, Appia was relying on getting at least that concession...

This could be tricky.

I try again. Still nothing.

After talking to Shendredie's people, I've realised things aren't quite as amicable all round as I thought.

I miss Mum. She's better at getting everyone together than me, me and Dad kind of lead because we're large and in charge, but Mum manages to talk through to people. Maybe it helps that Humans are so flimsy?

I try again. Now I'm looking at...

Oh dear.

I realise that there's bigger things to discuss than Thando. A man lies on the floor, her office is a mess, and her dress even worse...

She's getting her breath, and lets go of the knife in the man's chest.

"Appia, are you ok?"

"Oh, Rivkah... No. No I'm not. Septima has launched her attack... Several bombs have been detonated, and dozens of my staff are dead. Gateway command has been bribed, and are now denying entry to MSI shipping..."

"She's coming."

She trembles as she wipes blood off her stomach. "What will it cost me to ask you to get your entire fleet here before she does?"

"That... I don't know. Transit times?"

"Thankfully the Gateway is on the far side of the system, and the wormhole on the near side."

"And obviously you opened the wormhole as close as you could to us... We might make it."

She runs a medical device over her stomach. "Please try."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Appia Calls For Aid"
4th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

It's been three hours.

She is...

Well. She is maskless; I find myself surprised to see her yellow eyes. She is also naked. Only a belt, a pistol and a parazonium. She smiles as she sits on a pile of several armoured men. "I believe this is how your mother dressed."

"I'm told it is. How bad?"

She frowns. "I've just had the Castra Praetoria blasted from orbit."

The words are familiar... Oh no. "The Praetorian barracks? That is really bad, if they've got low orbit and started wiping out your army..."

She laughs. "No, I have low orbit. The bastard Praetorians betrayed me. My own bodyguard! I've had to start purging the whole unit this morning. I'm winning because my fleet remained loyal, and I have air and space superiority, and the remaining rebels have holed up into the underground vactrain network." She leans forward. "The surviving Shareholders have agreed to accept any reforms to regain order. The situation is utterly dire Rivkah."

"Just how bad?"

She points the view out the window. Black smoke is rising. "After our call, I began trying to establish what the hell happened. The Praetorians took out planetary communications. Thankfully, the fleet remained loyal, and they began rerouting critical governance channels through the navy. Then the bombs started. I don't have full casualty reports, but I'm expecting that millions are dead, Olinbari and Indentured Assets. I know at least a third of the Shareholders are confirmed assassinated..."

"How did you make it?"

The view points back to her. She picks up her sword, bloody to the hilt. "They came for me. I killed them."

"On your own, against Praetorians?"

She smiles. "Rivkah, sweet Rivkah, how do you think I got this high?"

I'm... Thrown by the question. If I was Appia, how would I have gotten so high... "Slept with the boss, I guess?"

She smiles. "Unfortunately most of my bosses on the way up were men, although I did get promoted to Subcommander for sleeping with a Rear-Admiral, so you aren't entirely wrong. No, I am one of the best duelists in MSI. That's how I got some of my now released Companionship Assets and my naval commision. I must confess, that disarming utility it is the second reason I maintain the appearance of a hedonist who loves her ladies."

"Dare I ask what the first is?"

She laughs. "Because I am a hedonist who loves her ladies, obviously." Then sighs. "Thanks for making me laugh, I needed that today..." Her voice trails. "Rivkah."

"Yes?"

"I know you've got a fair few reasons to distrust me, or even celebrate what could easily be my downfall." She kneels. "Please rescue me. Rescue us. I know you'll have difficulty convincing the others, so remind them that we've got lots of Indentured Assets who need saving too. Septima has bribed Gateway Command, and it'll be weeks before freight arrives via the hyperlane network and jump drives. And Brigantia imports food..."

She looks pitiful.

Her eyes fall.

Then she whispers softly. "Vae victis."